The Genius Mecha Pilot Wants to Survive - Chapter 02

This much is enough.

“Our squad takes that worm bastard!”

I slowly come to my senses at the commander’s words. They call it ‘Serpent shooting’ to sound nice, but it’s really just hunting the monsters that come out of it.

If this were a game, a quest would pop up right now. Kill a few Keppers coming out of the Tunnel Serpent. Something like that.

The problem is that this isn’t a tutorial. That’s what worries me.

‘They wouldn’t shell us, would they?’

In the game, they’d intentionally drop a few shells where I’d passed or was going to go to liven up the war atmosphere.

Naturally, I don’t expect it to be that convenient.

‘Let’s just stick to it.’

I ran quickly and stuck to the side of the Tunnel Serpent. I figured they wouldn’t shell the Serpent, at least.

I lay down next to the Serpent’s mouth. As expected, the shelling wasn’t directed here. The troops it spat out ran straight ahead, so they didn’t see me, and I was able to take them down steadily.

Once it was cleared, the next quest popped up. “3rd Platoon, enter the tunnel!”

If the previous quest in the game was clearing the area around the tunnel, now it’s breaking through the tunnel. It’s about going through the Tunnel Serpent to the enemy’s side and fighting there.

The infantry gets close to destroy the enemy’s tank-type monsters, and then we advance again with Titans in the lead.

‘It’s dangerous here, too.’

Naturally, there are ambushes during the movement. No matter how many troops there are, direct-fire weapons like guns can’t unleash all their firepower inside a narrow tunnel.

‘I need to fall back as much as possible.’

I sneakily head toward the nearby corpses. When a few eyes turned toward me because of my sluggish movements, I casually grabbed the dog tags and closed their eyes. As if I knew them. The glares naturally faded.

“Huh?”

It was a coincidence. The pendant next to the dog tags opened. My face was reflected in the mirror attached to it.

‘Why… is it me?’

It sounded strange, but it was me. Min-cheol Lee, an ordinary citizen who lived in 21st-century South Korea. That face was exactly as it was in the mirror. Not the default character appearance without customization, but my actual face.

Surprised, I glanced at the back of my hand. The position of the mole was the same.

‘It wasn’t possession, it was a trip?’

No wonder I ran out of stamina after running a little. No wonder the gun recoil was hard to control, and it was damn heavy.

Surviving in space… seemed like it would be tougher than I thought.

‘Still, I made it pretty far to the rear.’

At the platoon leader’s urging, I stood up, grabbing magazines and grenades, and entered the Serpent.

On the battlefield, the front means death. Just by pulling back a bit, I achieved my goal of talking to the platoon leader.

As I entered the tunnel, the noise of the battlefield began to die down like a lie. Contrary to the soldiers’ worries, the enemy’s offensive paused for a moment.

In the game, too, enemies didn’t come for a while, as if it were a time to appreciate the graphics showing the inside of the monster. Fortunately, this part was the same as the game. The only difference is that the game couldn’t properly implement the disgust of reality.

“This is the inside of the Tunnel Serpent…?” “It smells disgusting.”

Someone muttered. They were right.

This might look like a building, but it’s actually a living monster.

We are passing through the monster’s intestines. A weakly acidic, light green liquid—I don’t know if it’s saliva or stomach acid—is dripping down. It was also slightly viscous, so it felt gross every time I stepped on it. Mysterious lumps of foreign matter stuck in the flesh here and there. And the disgusting smell filling the space itself.

Soldiers with weak stomachs were already retching.

My head had become unnecessarily complicated by the fact that I had fallen here in my own body, not through possession. However, thanks to the disgusting smell dragging me back to reality, my thoughts were quickly sorted out.

Either way, whether it’s a trip or possession, what I need to do remains the same. Let’s survive the tutorial first.

As soon as I finished my resolve, another sound of a threat was heard.

“Kieeeek!”

The attack of the Kepper swarm began, just like in the game. As I said before, since it’s a narrow passage, it’s hard for the enemy’s mass offensive to shine properly.

“Duck in front! Get down!!” “Don’t pull back! Form a formation!”

I couldn’t see the situation in front from the back, but sometimes I saw blood sprays and corpses splattering on the ceiling.

“Group up! Make a line!”

The squad leader said that, leading the squad members. Prone, kneeling, standing. Three lines are formed in the rear. I was in the standing line, which was the very back.

One by one, Keppers popped out in the chaos, were caught in sight, and friendly fire continued.

And I realized one fact… that I was terrible at standing shooting.

‘This is a sharpshooter?’

Without anything to support my arms, just standing and shooting didn’t hit as well as I thought. Unlike in the army, there’s no trench to rest my arms on. I only now realize that that support helps with aiming more than I thought.

So, let’s not get cocky, let’s calmly take out the ones sticking to our side with burst fire. Even so, I can’t hit their vitals.

The number of Keppers dying a few meters in front of the formation, and the number of allies dying in the melee, increases.

‘This isn’t good.’

I can tell. This is 100% going to collapse. The difference from my expectations was the speed. The Keppers’ teeth reached our line in an instant.

“Argh!” “Run!”

Our line collapsed, and we were also swept into the melee. Running back while turning to shoot, shooting back-to-back with a few others.

The melee, which even included me who was quite far back, lasted that long. It was to the point where I would have gotten burned if I had grabbed the barrel wrong.

“I-is it over?” “You think it’s over? They’re probably swarming at the end of the tunnel.”

They were right. To be precise, it wasn’t the end, but after exiting the tunnel. That’s where the quest to destroy a few of the Kilug’s main tank-type monsters took place.

‘I’m pretty late… it shouldn’t matter, right?’

In the game, the enemies encountered in the Serpent were a minor event. It was an event where you just blew through it with indiscriminate hunting, regardless of formation or whatever.

But in reality, it took more time than I thought.

Maybe the allies wiped out all the enemies in the meantime. With that expectation, I grabbed more magazines and grenades from the corpses.

Since I possessed a character in the game, there are scenes I can predict. I could feel, “Ah, this is that scene,” from the sound and various other parts.

For example, it was like that on the transport ship right after possession. Especially the moment they were bragging about their war achievements, I was convinced.

The next was when passing through the Tunnel Serpent. Just like in the game, troops were pushed from the front.

And when exiting the tunnel, I felt something was wrong just from the sound.

Originally, the enemy tank-type monster near the entrance would explode from a Titan’s attack, and a mission in a new area would pop up.

But it was a little different. The tank monsters that should have been visible when coming out of the Tunnel Serpent’s mouth or anus were not there. They were to the side and behind the entrance. In other words, they had advanced a bit more, and their numbers were very small.

“Charge!”

An order comes down to destroy the tanks that are a bit far away. I turned my head slightly while heading there.

I saw the Alliance’s formation. There, I saw Titans, whose numbers were much lower than they should have been.

Even after rubbing my eyes, it was the same. The number of Titans had drastically decreased.

Did I spend too much time inside the Tunnel Serpent? Was my aim, which had become trash compared to the game, such a serious problem?

‘Let’s stay calm.’

How did the tutorial go originally? I had to recall this first.

I calmly took a deep breath and racked my brain.

Originally, I’m supposed to kill a few Big Eyes, the tank-type monsters, here. They have legs that look like multi-legged tanks, and their upper bodies are round like an octopus face. There’s a huge eyeball attached there, and it shoots long-range laser attacks from it.

‘I’m sure the story was that if you destroyed a few, a hole would be punched in the enemy’s fire net, and the Titans would advance.’

And by the time the Titans come near the enemy lines where we are, enemy reinforcements arrive.

Then, a cutscene plays where a nearby Titan coolly blocks the attack and stabs its sword into the Big Eye’s eyeball. The cutscene ends with a scene of the Titan unit advancing magnificently.

‘But it’s messed up.’

There weren’t enough Titans left to stage a magnificent advance scene. There wasn’t much in the nest, but it’s true that the danger increases as the troops decrease.

Suddenly, one fact worried me.

‘Have the enemy reinforcements arrived?’

If it were a mutual destruction like this with additional reinforcements having arrived, it would have been manageable.

Then, I felt a vibration from afar. Looking toward the enemy nest, I saw quite a large number of Big Eyes and Keppers.

“Hey! Report it immediately!”

I said, roughly turning the squad leader’s shoulder. Seeing the direction I turned him, he hurriedly sent a radio message.

Reports and orders are exchanged quickly.

“Everyone! Get back on the Serpent and join the main force!”

Everyone quickly escapes as troops are coming from behind too.

“Run fast! If the main force is pushed back, we’re all dead!”

I run as if sprinting with all my might inside the Serpent. I was so out of breath that I was retching, but I gritted my teeth and ran out.

Thanks to that, I got out of the Serpent. It was when I was catching my breath, watching the main force quickly install explosives and block the entrance of the Serpent. A soldier who was catching his breath with me… looked behind and opened his mouth with a trembling voice.

“W-we’re going to die… we have to run away….”

Kilug reinforcements are covering the ridge again. Their numbers were more than double ours.

Originally, the battle between the Allied Forces and the Kilug was always a fight to overcome the numerical difference. What covers that is always the firepower armed with gunpowder and beams, usually Titans.

And right now, the main force’s firepower was ridiculously insufficient.

‘Am I going to die?’

Not long after possessing this body. Just because I was bad at standing shooting?

I didn’t want to die. There’s no reason. Why would I need a reason when I don’t want to die? I hate pain, and I’m afraid of dying.

And I felt wronged. I felt wronged that I was suddenly dragged here just to die like this. I felt wronged because I hadn’t done much since being dragged here, and I felt wronged because I couldn’t even save my organs.

Organs? Right, I had my organs.

Only then did a direction come to mind.

‘Yeah, I can’t give up like this.’

I looked around.

What’s the way to win? From the start, there aren’t many branches in the tutorial. There were only two cards I could use from the beginning.

I can’t overcome it with one, the basic armament. Then there was only one left.

‘Titan.’

I quickly scan the allied side. Hoping there’s a spare machine I can ride.

Is there no law that says I must die? Luckily, I found one machine that fits perfectly.

Actually, what I expected was a Titan that was half-broken, with the cockpit abandoned and the pilot escaped. But this one is jackpot level.

It’s a machine with its leg stuck in the Tunnel Serpent and the cockpit open.

I could roughly picture the scene. It got stuck under the Serpent, couldn’t move, and when the enemies swarmed, the pilot opened the cockpit and escaped.

I don’t know if the pilot died or lived. I don’t care.

I ran straight toward it.

“Hey! Where are you going!?”

I ran, ignoring the shouting. Is it because I found my only hope? Even though I had clearly run with all my might and was exhausted, I was able to run at full speed.

Just in time, the enemy’s offensive begins. Kepper cries. The unique sound of Big Eyes charging lasers. Gunfire and shelling sounds. I run through the gaps where sparks, flashes, and debris are flying.

I crawl up the fallen Titan and enter the cockpit.

In front, there’s a lever with many buttons on both sides, and various other buttons, levers, and screens here and there.

A normal possessor or someone who ‘tripped’ here would probably panic and die, not knowing what to press. This machine is an ordinary mass-produced 3rd-generation Titan. The operation method is mechanical.

Whew. With two hands filled with tension, worry, and expectation, I grab the levers in front one by one.

I try turning the levers roughly. The Titan’s giant body twitches with a screeching sound. It looks like it’s struggling while being pressed by the Tunnel Serpent.

To be more specific, it feels like when you lay down a cheap robot toy that only moved forward and turn it on.

Pressing one of the buttons on the lever, I turn the ball on top of the lever with my thumb. Only then does the arm start to move separately. Turning the lever and the arm at the same time, I start to lift the Tunnel Serpent.

It’s impossible to lift that giant body like a weightlifter. It was enough to create a tiny gap. When I operated it further in that state, it crawled out like a person.

‘This is harder than I thought.’

Even so, I succeeded in operating it. The reason is simple. Because I know how to operate a Titan.

Cosmos Story is my life’s game, so I later bought a separate package that included a setting book and such.

The part I found most interesting in the setting book was the Titan’s cockpit.

I just… just looked at it because it looked cool. If someone teased me for being childish, I wouldn’t have anything to say. The detailed cockpit drawing was cool, and I had thought about what it would be like to ride in it.

That’s not all. Just like when I get tired of playing a racing game in 3rd person, I switch to 1st person to enjoy the sense of speed. I also beat the game with Titan controls, and because I felt it was a shame, I beat it all in 1st person view too.

With the control screen fully visible. In reality, the game required pressing levers and buttons in detail according to the setting book.

So, I knew it roughly with my head and eyes.

‘This is how it moved, right?’

A Kepper that had come near the allied formation passed by my machine.

Kwajik! I moved my foot and stepped right on the Kepper.

I definitely don’t remember the detailed buttons.

Even so, for now, this much was enough.